Code Lyoko: Rise of Xana
by Seedative
Summary: Thirty years after the original Lyoko Warriors shut Lyoko down, the program is re-awakened, and with it... Xana.
1. The Beginning

**Dear reader. This is my first fan fiction and I'm super pumped about finally writing it. If you haven't already figured it out, this is a fan fiction based upon the popular 2003 T.V show "Code Lyoko". If you have never heard of the show and want to get some background information, take a look at this website before continuing: wiki/Code_Lyoko.**

 **Just a disclaimer. This Fan fiction takes place 30 years after the events of the "Code Lyoko" TV show. The characters in the old show will have some involvement, but will not be the main characters. Other than that, I got nothing else for ya'll. I hope you enjoy my story! Sincerely Seedative.**

"No, No, No" Robert says, adjusting his glasses and taking a bite of his peanut butter- and- jelly sandwich.

"It could totally happen!" Seth replies back to his friend, crinkling up an empty chip bag wrapper.

"Seth, there is absolutely no physical way that a person could be digitized into a video game. Its anatomically impossible, skin and bone cannot be turned into pixels. It's preposterous!" Robert shot back, shutting down his friend's theory. It was an absurd idea, turning one's body into a computer program. How his long-time friend had gotten that idea in his head was beyond Robert, but it was far from an abnormal occurrence. Seth was getting these ideas all the time, ideas that are ridiculous and destined to fail before they happen. Robert thought of how lucky Seth was to have a friend to add logic into his life. After all, Robert was the smartest person he knew.

"All I'm saying is that it would be awesome if I was able to go inside of a video game. I could fight monsters, save princesses, conquer worlds," as he was saying this, Seth had picked up a stick from underneath a tree in the courtyard they were sitting in. he would spin it around and pretend to fight invisible monsters, hitting imaginary targets with the side and end of the stick. "it would be interstellar!" he says, throwing his arms up as he says his signature word.

At that very moment, a shattering sound echoes throughout the courtyard as the stick Seth was holding went through the Art room's window. Seth, upon hearing the sound, lowers his hands and looks at them, wide eyed seeing that the stick is no longer there. He hangs his head in disappointment as a loud, angered voice calls out "SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRPPPPPP!" Seth, in hearing his last name called out says to Robert "I'll meet you at your house later" he says before he jogs over toward the schools principle. Robert could see them arguing before Seth is escorted to the principles office.


	2. The Discovery

On the way home from school, Robert was thinking about the concept of virtual-izing someone. He laughed to himself at the insane idea as he made his way through the park that was on the way to his house. It was a gorgeous summer day. The breeze blew across his face and through his hair and the birds sang, their bodies hidden by the leaves on the trees. It was peaceful; a certain silence filled the air. However, that silence was shattered with two words. "Hey Nerd!" a voice insulted from behind Robert, its voice deep and threatening. He whipped around and locked gazes with Ricky Holcolmb, the school bully and a long time enemy of Robert. "Yo, wassup Geek? Glad you could drop by, I could use a couple extra bucks," the bully says with a smirk, holding out a hand "how much ya got?" he asked, his face growing stern.

"Back off Ricky. I'm not giving you any money," Robert said simply. This was a regular occurrence for him. Robert, however, would normally just get beat up and his money taken. But not this time. This time, he was going to stand up to his enemy. Ricky pounded his closed fist against his open hand and said "So? Little bookworm wants to be a tough guy? Respectable. Stupid, but Respectable." He said, lunging towards Robert. At the first sign of movement, Robert took off, throwing his books on the ground. Ricky, seeing his victim flee, rushed after him, sprinting to catch up. Robert raced through the park, his pursuer only about five feet away from him. " _He's getting close. I need to lose him"_ Robert thought to himself, sweat running down his forehead from the vigorous running he is doing. He looks over his shoulder to the bully who is falling behind. He laughs to himself before his foot hit the edge of something on the ground, sending him sprawling to the ground. He lays there on his stomach, recovering from the shock of the fall before sitting himself up. He turns to the direction of whatever he tripped on and, removing some foliage, reveals an old, rusted sewer lid. He is transfixed on the odd metal object when he hears from a few feet away "Your dead meat, Bookworm!". He thinks of an easy way to escape and his attention immediately goes to the manhole in front of him.

He stands up, putting the tips of his fingers on the edge that had tripped him and, using every ounce of strength he had at the moment, lifted the rusted lid. He looked into the dark abyss that was the sewer hole and swallowed. He hesitated and reluctantly crawled down the foreboding tunnel. As he reached the bottom, he saw a shadow at the top of the hole. The shadowy figure calls down from the top of the tunnel "Don't think I didn't see you crawl down there you little sewer rat!" Ricky's voice called echoed its way down the tunnel. "You're just lucky that I have a reputation to keep and can't be caught smelling like raw sewage. But that's okay, you're going to have to come up some time, and when you do, I'll be waiting right here. So try and wait me out punk! I got nothing to do today, so I got all the time in the world." With those words, the shadowy figure disappeared. Robert knew that Ricky wasn't joking and knew that he would be waiting for whenever Robert had decided to come out. He had no choice, he had to find another way home. As he was thinking about an alternate route, his eyes drifted to the dark, eerie tunnel of the sewer. " _I could probably get home underground if I follow this sewer_ " he thought to himself. He pulls out his smart phone and turns on the flashlight app and points it down the tunnel. " _Here goes nothing_ " he thinks to himself and with a shudder, he begins his way into the endless darkness of the sewer system.


	3. The Factory

His breath was visible in the tunnel as he walked along the corridor of the sewer. " _Man… it smells in here_ " he says, trying to breathe in through his mouth as to not inhale the odor of the raw sewage floating a few feet away from him. He had no idea how long he had been walking for, but he estimates that it's been at least fifteen minutes. He shines his flashlight up at the ceiling, looking at the damp and moss covered brick ceiling above him that's dripping with moisture. He shudders and keeps on walking. A couple minutes pass and Robert sees no sign of a way out until he stumbles upon another ladder, the first one he's seen since he climbed down. He gets excited and climbs the ladder, pocketing his phone before his ascent. When he reaches the top, the puts his hands on the bottom of the manhole cover and pushes upwards, the light blinding him and burning his eyes as it leaks through the opening. As the world around him comes into focus, he looks around. Climbing out, he takes in his surroundings. He is on a bridge of some sort, the entrance to the city to his left. He look to his right and I amazed at what he sees. It is a large building with broken windows and torn apart walls. Two gigantic smoke stacks emerge from the top of the building. He is in awe of what he estimates is a broken down factory. Robert knows he must get home, but his curiosity is peaked. It is almost like the building was speaking to him, beckoning him to come in. He hesitates, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he makes his way toward the factory.

As he enters into the abandoned building, the musty air from years of neglect hit him like a form of poisonous gas. He coughs and waves it away with his hand before his breath is stolen away. The building was MASSIVE! He was standing on a balcony with a broken railing, overlooking the factory giant work floor. It was like a giant line, assorted rooms used for assorted reasons lining the bottom layer and a railing overlooking the lower floor running along the outside of the building. He didn't know what to think, but all he knew is that he wanted to explore every inch of this structure. He looked around for a way down before noticing an old rope right in front of him. He smiles as he ambles over to the rope, grasping a hold of it and sliding down it. When he reaches the bottom, he rubs his hands, which are warm from the slide down. He looks about him. " _Man… this place is a ghost town_ " Robert thinks to himself as he takes in more of the factory. As his eyes scan the expanse of the building, he fixates his gaze on an open elevator door. He walks over to it and presses one of the buttons. He is taken by surprise when the button glows to life. He is just as shocked when the doors open right in front of him. He stares at the empty elevator, contemplating whether to go in or not. He is about to turn tail and leave when the building beckons to him once again. He couldn't help himself and before he knew it, he found himself standing inside of the elevator, watching the doors close in front of him.

A few moments later, the elevator door open and Robert is faced with yet another dark room, filled with unknown wonders. He looks around helplessly at the dark before him when the room lit up before his eyes. Bright lights cast a green-blue tint along the walls as a robotic voice echoes "Welcome Jeremie". The sound bounces and reverberates around in the room, breaking the eerie silence that was there before. As the sound faded, the slight hum of a machine could be heard. Robert estimated this to be the hum of a generator, keeping the lights on. He looks around before embarking into the room. On the ceiling in front of him was a gigantic, metallic half circle that was attached to some more machinery. A smaller half circle rests on the ground directly underneath it. Towards the right of the smaller half was a chair about two and a half feet off the ground. The back of the chair was attached to a machine which was attached to the larger semi-circle. It appeared that the larger semi-circle was acting as a track for the chair, enabling it to move around in a circle. He walks up and hops up into the chair, resting back. It wasn't the most comfortable chair he had ever sat in, but it definitely wasn't uncomfortable. He rested his arms on the armrest, accidentally pushing a lever to the left. With a sudden jerk, the chair started moving, machines "talking" to one another as it moves around. He moves hi s hand and the chair jerks to a stop. He smiles to himself, impressed at how amazed he is at the technology. He notices a computer monitor in front of him and a keyboard to match. He pushes his glasses up and turns on the computer. The screen lights up and a whole slew of numbers fly upwards and downwards on his screen. He sits leans back as the computer turns on and notices something underneath him. He lifts up his rear, reaches underneath and pulls out the object he had been sitting on. It appeared to be a small box of some sort. He finds a way to open it and he pulls the lid up. The first thing he sees as he opens the box is a note. It read " _Play me and learn the answer to all your questions. Sincerely, Jeremie Belpois_." He puts the note off to the side and peers back into the box. He pulls out a D.V.D and examines it. " _This must be what Jeremie wants me to look at_ " he says, searching the computer for a place to put the disc. He feels the monitor of the computer and is delighted to feel an opening in the machine where he could put the disc in. he puts the D.V.D in the computer and sits back to watch what Jeremie wanted him to see. The screen flickers to life as the D.V.D begins to play….


	4. The Message

The static cleared as a boy was revealed. Robert guessed him to be about 18 years old. The boy was sitting in the same chair as Robert was, his large glasses and blonde hair reflecting off the light the computer screen emitted. The boy adjusted the camera and pushed his glasses up and said.

 _"H-hello? This is Jeremie Belpois speaking. I am 18 years old and am a student at Kadic High school. I-I don't have a lot of time so I am going to make this short. I-if you're reading this, then things have gone horribly wrong. When I first discovered Lyoko, I was amazed at what I saw… but never realized that it would get this bad."_ The boy said nervously, a drop of sweat running down his forehead. A loud banging sound could be heard outside of the room, like metal banging on metal. Jeremie's head jerked towards the sound, a look of terror and panic on his face. _"A-About six years ago, I found a virtual world called Lyoko and with it a girl named Aelita. At first glance, this world was amazing, incredible and everything a world should be. But then the first attack happened. An attack by a villain called X.A.N.A."_ A pipe burst behind jeremie and he ducks his head letting out a panicked cry. _"We soon figured out that X.A.N.A was able to create portals to our world a-and he used them to wreak havoc in our dimension. In order to stop him we had to send people into Lyoko using the scanners on the lower level. They would help Aelita into the towers so that she could de-activate them. We did this until I was able to materialize Aelita into the real world and enter a multi-talent code to shut down X.A.N.A. for good and for a while it worked."_ There was more banging on the outside of the room as a cord came loose, sending electrical sparks flying through the air above Jeremie's head. He ducks and puts his hands over his head as the sparks shower over him. He lifts his head back up and straightened out his glasses. " _About two years later, X.A.N.A re-awakened and activated a tower. We were not aware that he had come back because none of us were in Lyoko and before we could respond, X.A.N.A had taken control of the factory. He was furious that we had attempted to kill him and he was out for his revenge. W-which brings us to our current…. Uh… situation."_ Jeremie wipes more sweat away from his forehead. The doors behind him open up and a boy in a purple hoodie with pointy blonde hair along with a boy in a jacket with army-type pants with short brown hair are standing in the elevator. The boy with the short brown hair said " _Jeremie, we're ready down there. Send us in and then come in. we'll be waiting in Lyoko for you."_ Jeremie nods to them as the elevator doors close. He puts a headset on and continues talking. " _To avoid bringing danger and harm to the people around us, we are retreating to Lyoko. Since X.A.N.A is after us, he will follow us there."_ He says as he begins typing something into the computer. " _Scanning…. Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita."_ He says into the microphone attached to his headset, his face stern with focus. _"Virtualizing!"_ he says as a rush can be heard from below where jeremie is sitting. The sound of shredding metal can be heard from right behind Jeremy as four spikes come through the wall. Jeremie looks behind him with a scream. He takes a deep breath and looks back at the camera. _"please… whoever is watching this, we need your help. I have set up several tutorials on how to use the machine."_ The claws tear apart the metal wall behind Jermeie, who doesn't flinch. A large shadow that looked almost metallic begins to squeeze into the room. Jeremie, still fixed on the camera says sternly " _Please, stop X.A.N.A, save humanity….."_ The shadow, now fully in the room, lets out a roar as it rushes to Jeremie who utters out four words, four words that would haunt Roberts thoughts for the rest of the night. Jeremie, not paying attention to the monster lunging at him whispers, a single tear running down his face " _… your our last hope"_

With that, the screen goes black. Robert just stares, his eyes getting watery but not having the strength to cry after what he just saw. He put his shaking hands up to his face and runs them backwards through his hair as something on the ground right below him shines in his eyes. As he picks the object up, he can't help himself but to break down. There, resting in his hands, was a pair of big glasses with a black rim, one of the lenses, cracked in half.


	5. The Warning

Robert can't do anything but sit and stare at the room around him. He was having a hard time taking everything in. A virtual world, people INSIDE the virtual world, a malicious virus wanting Jeremie and his friends dead? It was almost too much for him. He looks at the glasses that were clenched in his hand. He knew he had to do something, after all Jeremie was counting on him. He takes the large glasses and puts them on the edge of the computer screen. " _lets go check out that scanner room he was talking about_ ". He hopped off the chair and went to the elevator, waited for the doors to open and when he got inside, pressed the button to go down a floor.

When the elevator doors opened, he gawked at the room in front of him. it was a large room, about the size of the computer room. there were four large cylinders, three looking more professionally built than the fourth. above the cylinders was a jungle of red and maroon vines which snaked from the top of the cylinders to the ceiling. the cylinders appeared to glow as if they were still on and had never been turned off. he stood there in awe, finally seeing the beauty in the room and realizing that this was the gateway to Lyoko. Just like in the park, it was a beautiful silence until, just like the park, it was broken by his cellphone ringing. he picked it up, slid the screen to answer the call and said "hello?". Seth's voice was heard on the other end of the line, "Dude, where the heck are you? i thought we were meeting at your house but your not even here. is everything alright?" his friend asked. Robert facepalms. he had totally forgotten about what Seth had said before he had been carted off to Principle King's office. "uh… yah, everything is alright. i'll be home in about five minutes." and with that robert hung up his phone. He gives the room one final look. He knew he had to come back here and knew that he would soon. After a while, he turns and goes towards the elevator and heads home.

Later that night, Seth, Robert and Robert's older brother Noah were hanging around at his house, playing video games. Noah says "He's right bro, it WOULD be pretty sweet to go into a video game." as he presses the buttons vigorously on his remote. "see? SEE?!" Seth said, getting right into Robert's ear. "Listen you two… i never said it wouldn't be fun, i just said it was impossible." Of course robert knew this wasn't true. After what he had seen in the factory, he knew all too well that Seth's idea was 100% true. "I dunno bro," Noah said to robert "With your genius little mind, i'm sure you could figure out a way to do it." Noah's avatar dribbles the basketball up to the center line and shoots a perfect three-pointer. "YA ROOKIES! thats how its done!" he says, celebrating. At his words, the room went dark, the sound of Roberts house's power shutting off slowly fading. They sat there in silence and darkness when Noah's voice says softly "Gosh darnit… and i was winning too"

At that very moment, a crimson red symbol flickered onto their TV screen. the symbol looked odd, like some sort of weird bullseye. there was a small red circle in the middle, a medium sized ring and a larger ring around it. on the outside of the larger circle, there were four lines that poked out. one line rested on top of the outer circle and the other three rested on the bottom, almost like eyelashes. Robert studied the symbol closely before realizing where he had seen it. His memory flashed back to the monster that had attacked Jeremie. The monster had the exact same symbol on its face. "X.A.N.A…" Roberts whispers under his breath. "What?" Noah asks, not quite hearing his brother clearly. Robert looked over to the two other people in the room. Noah was looking at him Wating for an answer and behind him, Seth was taking a selfie with the weird symbol. He thinks to himself " _Should i show them the factory? I mean, i trust them… and they can help me help Jeremie…._ " after a few minutes of contemplating,he looks back up to the two other boys with a stern look and says "Alright guys, follow me. i have something to show you."


	6. The Virtualization

The elevator doors opened to the computer room a couple minutes later, Noah and Seth standing there with their mouths and eyes wide open. It had been tricky convincing their mom about letting them go to out during a power outage, but Robert handled it and now they were at the factory. From what Robert had seen, over half the city was in a major blackout which, as much as he didn't want to, Robert believed was the work of X.A.N.A. It didn't make sense though. _"Why is X.A.N.A resurfacing?"_ he thought to himself, clenching his fist. _"He already took Jeremie and all his friends, what more does he want!?"_ Robert was so caught up in his thought he hadn't realized that his two guests were no longer standing beside him. Seth had found his way into Jeremie's chair and was currently figuring out how the spinning mechanism works and Noah was just walking around, staring and gawking at the room he was in. Still staring around, Noah says "Woah...What IS this place?" Seth, who was currently in the chair replies "I have no clue, but it sure is a lot of fun!" Robert, steamed at the childish behavior of his friend, says sharply "Get out of the chair!" Seth, seeing how upset his friend was getting, hops down from his seat and says "Fine bro, geez."

Robert wonders what he should do next. Should he show them the scanners? Show them the virtual world? Then the idea hit him. He would show them the video Jeremie had left for whomever to find. "You two, over here. I have something to show you." he said as he pulled out the disc and puts it into the computer, sitting back down into his chair. The screen flickers to life as the video begins to play. Seth and Noah, drawn to the glowing computer screen like moths to a lamp, watch intently as Jeremie introduces himself, tells of the virtual world known as Lyoko, virtualizes his friends, and then gets attacked. After the video finishes, Robert coldly stops the virtual message and looks at the other two boys. Noah had a stone look on his face and Seth looked more serious than Robert had ever seen him. After a few seconds of silence, Seth asks "So that symbol on the screen…. that was this… X.A.N.A?" Robert looks at his friend and replies, "As much as i don't want to believe it, i think that's exactly the case." Noah interrupts and says "Then that must mean that there is trouble on this… Lyoko?" Robert just looks back at his brother sternly and nods. "But, if Jeremie and his friend are on Lyoko, then shouldn't they be able to stop him?" Seth asks, trying to make sense of the situation. "I have no idea, but if X.A.N.A is making his way into the real world then something must be wrong." Robert says, typing something into the computer. He was pulling up one of the tutorials that Jeremie had left him.

"That means that one of us has to go in." Seth says again out of the silence. Both of the boys look at Noah, expecting him to chime in and say that he will go inside Lyoko. "D-don't look at me! I have no idea what is in that machine and mom will be so mad if you come home and say i was stuck inside a computer!" Noah blurts, shooting down any ideas the boys had of sending Noah inside. The three boys sit there in silence, trying to think of something to do. Finally, Seth ended what seemed like an eternal silence saying "I'll go." Robert raises his eyebrows and says "Are you sure Seth? You don't know what will happen." Seth looks back at Robert and says "Listen… if this world is in danger then dangit, i want to protect it! That and considering that this one is too afraid to go in," Seth says, looking and pointing at Noah. ", and you need to stay here and work the program, I'm the only candidate left!" Robert looks at his friend and sees a look of absolute certainty on his face. He trusts his friend and, with a deep breath, nods in approval. Seth inhales and exhales and walks toward the elevator doors. He stands in the entrance-way as they open and he steps inside.

Robert puts on Jeremie's headset with a deep breath, listening to Jeremie's description of how to send someone into Lyoko. He followed Jeremie's instructions obediently, pressing any button and entering any code Jeremie told him to. There was absolutely no room for error. Robert worked furiously on his computer, his fingers moving at rapid speed as he got in his zone. With the final press of a button, a box pops up on his screen and says "Virtualize…" Robert sits back in his seat in astonishment, sputtering and saying "I-I did it!" Noah walks over to him and asks "Did what?" Robert replies, pushing up his glasses "I successfully initiated Jeremie's program. All i have to do now is enter Seth's name and hit enter and he'll be transported into Lyoko." Robert turns back to the computer and says into the headset "Seth, are you in the scanner room?" With the cackle of some static, Seth's voice is heard through the earpiece on the headset, and it says "Wow, you actually gave this creepy room a name? That's… normal." Robert's eyes narrowed and he said back "I didn't give it that name, Jeremie did." Seth could be seen on the monitor right in front of Robert. He was looking at one of the large, metallic scanners, running a hand along it. "Well, he's a creep too. And yes, i am in the "scanner room" or whatever," Seth said, doing quotation marks with his hands at the phrase "Scanner room". Seth looked calm, but Robert could see that Seth was really scared. Robert says in the microphone, "Seth, you really don't have to do this if you don't want to." Seth looks down at the floor and then at the scanner and says "No. Send me in before i change my mind" With a deep breath that could be heard from the earphone on the headset, Seth stepped into the scanner. Robert sighs before focusing in at the task at hand, typing on his computer. He closes the scanner doors and says into the microphone "Scanning Seth" as he typed in Seth's name. A 3-D model of Seth appeared on his screen before a box popped up saying "Virtualize?" with two smaller boxes that said "Yes" and "No". Robert puts his head down and hesitated before hearing Seth's voice in his earphone. "You can do it man… i trust you" Seth says. a surge of courage courses through Roberts veins and he clicks the "Yes" icon. he says into the microphone "Virtualizing!" A loud sound could be heard from underneath him and Noah, almost like a powerful gust of wind. After four to five seconds of horrible silence, Robert begins to type something into his computer. For about Two more seconds, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of Robert typing on his computer. All of a sudden, Roberts sat up, running his fingers through his hair, triumphantly laughing. Noah rushed up behind the chair and frantically says "What?! What's wrong?!" Robert looks back at his brother and says "Noah…. We just successfully sent Seth to Lyoko.


	7. The World

**Hello readers! It is I, Seedative with a few important messages. First off, I want to say THANK YOU! Lemme tell ya'll, when I first started my fanfiction, I never realized nor did I ever dream that it would get this popular. You have all been so awesome and I want to thank you for your support! Now that we got that out of the way, on to my next message. If you haven't already guessed, the past six chapters have been from Robert's viewpoint. As much as I love having him as a narrator, the events of the next few chapters depend on a different narrator. That is why, as of this point until my next message to you guys, Seth will be the narrator. This is particularly exciting for me because little do a lot of you know, but the character of Seth is modeled after myself. So, I am very well looking forward to this. The final message is about the reviews I've been getting. Let me tell you guys, nothing makes my day more than receiving a review from one of you guys. It shows me that you really care about the story and that just warms me up from the core. So, what am I getting at? Well, glad you asked! I am now answering any questions that you may have. Just send me a pm and I will be sure to answer your questions to the best of my ability (as long as they don't give away future story events). So, once again, thanks for your support! And now…. Time for chapter 7, "The World"**

When Seth awoke, he found himself a few feet above the ground. He gasps as he falls from his suspended state onto the hard, dusty earth. "Ow…." Seth said, rubbing the back of his head. His mind was a blur; the only thing he could remember was passing out in the tube. As the world around him came into focus, he gasped. He was in a huge desert, the sandy landscape stretching for as far as his eyes could see. The area he was in looked mostly flat, but there were assorted rocks around him, some short enough to step on and some large enough to climb. He looks around him at the landscape, his breath stolen by the beauty of this place. He stands up, his knees wobbly and shaking from the trip here. _"So this is Lyoko? Jeremie wasn't kidding, this place is amazing…"_ After his legs regained their strength, Seth walks over to the edge of the piece of land he was standing on and peers over. The land seemed to disappear and it was replaced with white nothingness. It looked kind of eerie, so Seth thought that it would be best to avoid falling into it. As he turns to his left, he sees a puddle of water. He peers into the puddle of water and jumps back at what he sees. He looks down to see that he was no longer in his street clothes. Instead, Seth was in a red jumpsuit with blue lines going down his arms, legs and back. In the middle of his chest was a blue circle with jagged blue lines veining out from it. _"What in the world…"_ he says as he looks at his new apparel. He feels up and down his arms, over his shoulders and to his back. Then he freezes. As his hands felt his back, he felt something round and metallic. He reaches behind him and pulls the metal object from behind his back and holds it in his hand. It was a staff of some sort, about 6 feet long. Its handle was sleek, the silver of the metal being enhanced by the blinding sunlight in the desert. As his eyes drifted up the long part of the staff, he saw what he estimated was a two foot cone on the end. Underneath the cone was a small switch which immediately peaked Seth's interest. As a finger slid up to flip the switch, the cone separated into three parts, each part turning into its own separate blade. He flinches with the sudden movement of his newfound weapon before running a finger on the edge of one of the cones. _"Man… this thing is as sharp as a sword!"_ Seth thought as he playfully spun his trident, pretending to do the same thing that he did in the courtyard earlier that day, laughing as he fought invisible monsters. "Interstellar!" Seth shouted as he threw his spear with shattering accuracy at a nearby rock.

At that very moment, a voice appeared in his head. "H-hello? I-is this thing working?" the voice said. "Robert? Is that you?" Seth answered back, recognizing his best friend's voice anywhere. "Ya, it's me. I can't believe that worked! Are you alright?!" Robert asked frantically. Seth shook his head as he tries to pry his trident out of the rock he threw it into; "Yes, I'm alright. This place is amazing! It's like a virtual desert!" Robert's voice crackled into his head again, "I know, I can see everything you can. I can't believe that this is actually happening!" Seth yanked his trident out of the rock, flipped the switch and put it into the holder on his back. "Robert, you know what this means right?" Seth said, looking around at the landscape once again. "That there is a world, possibly full of unheard of creatures not yet discovered by science?" Robert replies back, eagerly. "No," Seth replies with a smile ", it means that I was totally right you can send a person into a video game!" A sigh was heard from Robert as he said "Yes, yes. Shut up, will you?" Seth laughed before starting to walk through the desert. "Seth….," Robert's voice said again, this time it sounded panicked. Seth stopped walking and said "Robert, what's wrong?" Rober'ts voice came back inside his head and said "Get ready. Something is coming towards you and it doesn't look happy.


	8. The Monster

Seth's heart begins to race at Robert's words. He looks toward his right and then to his left. "Are you sure bro? There's nothing here except for that rock that looks like Noah's birthmark." He said to Robert as he looked toward the oval-shaped rock. Noah's voice crackled through, saying "Kid, you are so lucky I'm not in there!" Seth laughs before being interrupted by Robert. "Noah, shut up! Seth's in trouble!" Seth looks around and once again sees nothing. "Robert, there is nothing here." Seth says to his concerned friend. The typing on a keyboard could be heard and then Roberts voice cackles back to life, saying "Try looking past that curve up ahead." Seth shrugs and begins walking along the path that curves beyond a large rock. As he turns the corner, he freezes at what he sees. There, about twenty feet in front of him is a strange creature. It was a large block on a set of crab legs, the symbol that has been on the T.V on all four of its sides. Seth ducked behind a rock and whispers "Robert, what in Sam Hill is that thing?" Roberts's voice cackles back, replying "According to Jeremie's notes, it's called a Blok. The notes say that they are extremely dangerous. Stand by; I'll try to figure out its weakness if it has one." The rock in front of him shudders as if it was hit by something. Seth pops his head up to see the creature advancing upon him. The creature turns its head a full 360 degrees and one of the symbols lights up red. Seth didn't know what was about to happen but he didn't have a good feeling about the situation he was in. He jumps out from behind the rock as a laser shot out of the symbol and exploded behind him. As the force of the blast hit him, Seth went sprawling to the ground. He takes a deep breath and narrows his eyes, one of his hands reaching behind him to take hold of his weapon. "Alright," He says softly to himself ", If that's how you want to play." Seth jumps up and spins his weapon around, flicking the switch to transform his spear into a trident. He spins the weapon around and rushes at the creature. The creatures head does another 360, but Seth was already upon the creature. He leaps into the air and lands square on top of the Blok. He spins his trident around and with one forceful blow, stabs his weapon into the top of the creature.

He stood there, an accomplished look on his face. However, that look was wiped off his face when the creature shook, sending him and his weapon sprawling to the ground. Dazed, Seth gets onto his feet. He looked over at the creature only to see the symbol's charged up red light being released and hurled at him. Too dazed to react, the laser hits him straight in the chest and sends him flying through the air. He lays there gasping before a familiar crackle is heard in his head. "Seth! You're hurt." Roberts's voice says a tone of panic in his voice. Seth shook his head and replied with a grunt "Ya, no kidding." Roberts voice comes back and says "Seth, what you can't see is that you had 100 life points and since you got hit, it's been reduced to 50! One more hit and you're a goner!" Seth heart raced as he stood up, saying "ok, so do we have a weakness on this thing?" There is a silence before Roberts voice re-appears, saying "It says here in Jeremie's notebook that you have to rupture or damage the "eye of XANA". Now, if I have to take a guess, I would hypothesize that the "eye of XANA" is that weird symbol. Try hitting it with your trident." Seth nods and his gaze focuses on the creature. He runs toward it with a warrior-like scream. The creatures head does, yet another, 360 and the symbol glows red. Seth leaps in the air and his trident points at the symbol. At the last possible second before impact, the creature fires and it makes direct contact with Seth's chest, his trident falling inches short of its intended target. Seth is slammed to the ground at the force of the blast as the entire world around him goes dark.


	9. The Return

With a gasp, Seth awoke back in the tube. He felt awful. Everything was sore and it felt like he had a pound of cement attached to each one of his bones. The doors opened with a metallic sound, the familiar smell of the factory rushing into the tube he was in. As his eyes adjusted, he saw two figures standing in front of him. The familiar voice of Noah said "Welcome back, sunshine!" Seth glared at him before his focus was brought to Robert when his friend spoke. "How do you feel?" he asked, adjusting his glasses. "I feel as if my entire body was determined to break and make me face plant." Seth said, slowly but surely regaining his strength. He steps out of his tube, regaining his footing. "Yah, it's going to be like that. Apparently, that machine takes apart your atoms and rearranges them so that you are able to be digitalized by the computer. In other words, the first few return trips are gonna be a little rough," Robert explains. Seth stands up, his bones and muscles almost fully re-charged. "Well, let's hope I get use to that for the other trips" Seth said, shaking out his leg. Robert looks at him confused, saying "O-other trips? You're going back in?" Seth laughs and playfully thumps Robert on the back. "Robert, you've known me for a long time. You should know I never give up after the first time I fail" he says, as Roberts phone goes off. He pulls it out and looks at it, a look of horror coming over his face. "Oh shoot Noah! I have twelve messages from mom wondering where we are. We have to go, now!" Robert says to his older brother. Noah nods and just like that, the three of them were out of the factory.

After they left, the friends parted ways. Seth walked along the street, trying to think of anything about Lyoko. But it was to no avail, the magical world was stuck in his head. As he reached his home, he opened the door and stepped inside. "I'm home!" he yelled as he slipped his shoes off and hung up his jacket. His mom answered back, saying "Where have you been? It's 10 o'clock." Seth shrugged, saying "I was out with Robert. We were playing soccer." As he turned the corner, he saw his mom sitting at their kitchen table with an older woman. He looks at the woman closer, and instantly recognizes her as his Aunt Annabelle. She looks at him with a big grin on her face. Shocked, he looks at her and stutters out "A-aunt Annabelle. B-but if you're here… then where's…." He was cut off when a pair of hands from the room behind him covered his eyes. His heart raced as the girl behind him asks playfully "Guess who?" Seth smiles as the familiar of his cousin, Gio Schaeffer.


	10. The Girl

That night, Seth slept particularly well. Not because his only Aunt was there of his favorite cousin, but because of what he saw that day in Lyoko. He kept replaying the fight with the creature over and over in his head, except every time he replayed it, he ended up winning. He would throw the trident, stab the creature, do crazy back flips and each time his weapon would hit its target. But there was always a dark cloud in the background, as if there was something looming over his head. And it was because of this that he was outside of his house, a stick in his hand. He stood there, facing a hay bail that his neighbor (the farmer) had left out. He had sharpened the sticks point so that it looked like a weapon a caveman would use. He stood about fifteen feet away from his target, his hands gripping the bark of his make-shift spear. He took a deep breath and with one swift but forceful movement, hurled the spear at the target. The weapon flew through the air and right over the target. Seth sighed and fell to his knees. He had been out there for two hours straight. He had thrown that spear at least 50 times and he wasn't getting any better. He was wondering what he was doing wrong when he heard a voice say "Your not finding your weapons balancing point." His head jerked around to see Gio walking up towards him, her black hair shimmering off the sunrise. He stood up and confused, asked "Balancing point?" She nods and picks up his weapon. She holds it up to him and rests it on the side of her pointer-finger. Seth watches as the stick seems to balance perfectly on her hand. Gio grabs the stick near the "balancing point" and Seth watched in amazement as she threw it with stunning accuracy, the pointed end skewering the bail of hay. He looks at her with his eyes narrowed. "Show off" he mumbles, prying the stick out of the hay bail. Gio laughs and rests up against his target. He goes and sets himself right next to her, asking "So why the sudden appearance. I mean, why are you and aunt Annabelle here? Just to visit, or what?" She looks into the sunrise and says "No, no. I wish that were just the case. My school had another death threat and my mom had decided that was enough. So, she wanted me to transfer schools. We were searching for about a week when she saw an advertisement for Kadic. She says she doesn't want to send me there, but it's the only place she trusts at the moment. So, we decided on coming here. Her only rule is that i can't go past the bridge on the west side of town." Seth, also staring into the sunrise thinks to himself, " _The west side of town? There's nothing there except…. the factory_." He wanted to say something, but all he mutters out is "So you're staying with us?" She replies back, "Just until we can find a house of our own. But it looks like you're stuck with me until then." She nudges him on the shoulder and they laugh.

As he laughs, he is unaware of the boy walking up behind him. "Hey Seth" says the familiar voice of Robert. Seth turns around to look at his friend and Gio does the same. Robert walks around the bail of hay then freezes. His eyes fall on Gio and his cheeks turn a slight shade of red. Gio seems to pick up on it, her cheeks turning a shade of red as well. Seth stares at those two, trying not to bust out laughing. "H-hi" Robert says, shaking his head as if to snap out of a trance. Gio blinks a few times and replies back "Hi." "My name is Robert Stone" Robert says, extending a hand, his eyes never leaving hers. Gio takes his hand and replies "I'm Gio Schaffer" The two of them just sit there silently looking at each other. Seth shakes his head and says "Holy canoli you two. Why don't I just leave so you two can kiss already, good god" Gio slaps him across the shoulder and says "Why don't you go back to missing the hay bail with your stick?" Robert laughs, turning to Seth, saying "I was wondering what you were doing out here." Seth replies back "I couldn't get over the fact that i couldn't defeat that Blok." Roberts eyes got wide as a look of fear came over his face. Seth hadn't realized that Gio didn't know about Lyoko, so he covered it up by saying "I mean… seriously, how hard could it be to win in a video game?" Seth gives a small thumbs up to Robert. Robert shakes his head and says to Gio "What my informative friend was trying to say is that he had a hard time with a video game." Gio laughs and says "Yes, my cousin can be like that sometimes." Robert looks back at Gio and says "Well, i'm glad we have Seth's insolence in common." They both laugh and Seth says quietly, his face unemotional "Am i even here right now?" Just then, Robert lets out a loud "OW!" as he pulls out his phone and throws it on the ground. The phone sits there, sparking and jerking out of control. Seth reaches down to pick it up but a small bolt of electricity jumps up and hits his finger. Seth reels back and holds his finger. Gio looks at the phone and says "What the heck is going on?" Seth and Robert look as confused as ever until the screen on the phone changes. It transforms from Roberts usual mountain screensaver to a weird, yet familiar red symbol. Seth and robert both look at each other sternly. Seth looks at Gio and says "Gio, go home and don't touch any electronics until we get back. Trust me, i'll explain later." Gio shoots back, saying "Seth.." but it was too late. Seth and Robert with a nod had taken off toward the west side of the city. As they were running, Robert says "Don't you feel bad for leaving Gio?" Seth shakes his head and says "Not at all. It will be more safe for her at home." Robert nods before Seth says "Call Noah and have him meet us at the factory. I have a feeling i'm gonna need backup in Lyoko."


	11. The Reinforcements

It was a tiring run from the field they left Gio in all the way across town to the factory. He ran side-by-side with Robert all the way to the rope swing. He jumped up and grabbed hold of the rope, the bristles prodding into his hands as he slid down. He waited for Robert to come down and when he did, they took off to the elevator. As the doors closed, a silence came among the two of them. Robert looked at the phone that had stopped sparking and electrocuting him and said "Noah's going to be a little late. He has to convince mom to let him go out." Seth shook his head and said "Well, that was a pretty violent attack on Xana's part, who knows how bad Lyoko could be at the moment. Tell him to hurry up." Robert types Seth's message into his phone as the elevator doors open. Robert stepped out as Seth said "Get the program booted up, I'll head down to the scanner room." With those words, the elevator doors closed. Seth stood there in silence, getting his blood pumping for the inevitable fight ahead. As the elevator doors opened once again, he stepped into the scanner room, feeling the familiar cool of the metal cylinders. A voice comes over the loud-speaker, saying "Alright Seth, step into the scanner." With a deep breath, Seth takes a step inside one of the tubes. The door closes and an eerie silence fills the tube. Suddenly, as it did the first time, a huge rush of wind whisked him away to the virtual world once again.

When Seth woke up, he caught himself as he fell, landing perfectly on his feet. Seth wasted no time in taking his weapon out and flipping the switch, making it even deadlier. He said quietly to himself "Robert, you there?" A familiar crackle came into his head as a voice said "Ya, I'm here. Look, i hate to rush you as soon as you got in here, but you've got three, possibly four enemies headed your way. And it looks like one of them was the Blok you fought earlier." Seth gets a smirk on his face as he here's the familiar metallic sound he had heard before. There, standing right behind him, its huge head already spinning was the same Blok he had fought. Seth silently laughs to himself, turning around to face the creature. He spins his spear and says to the monster "So, we meet again. Good thing too. I've got three blades that are just DYING to meet you." The monster's head spins as the symbol glows its usual red, but he was already on the move. He jumped up into the air as the creature fires its laser, the beam going right between his legs. With one swift but forceful movement, Seth threw his trident in mid-air at the creature. As he landed on the ground, he jerked his head up to see the trident fly through the air and stick right into the creature's symbol. The creature shook and sputtered as it fell to the ground and exploded. Seth goes over to where his weapon was and picks it up, spinning it. He blows on the blade of the trident playfully as Robert's voice appears in his head, saying "Wow. That was close. Try to be more careful next time." Seth shrugs and says "Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do." He begins walking again as he realizes something. He was no longer in the desert he was in before. Instead of the sand and dust that was there before, there was rock and assorted pebbles. He looked around, amazed at his new surroundings. There were a few scarce trees here and there, but there were mostly giant cliffs and peaks as far as the eye could see. "Robert… Are you seeing this? Where am I?" Seth said, looking at his change in scenery. Robert's voice appears in his head again, saying "I don't think you're in the desert anymore. According to what I'm seeing, you're in the mountain sector of Lyoko." Seth looked around, nodding his head in approval. He opens his mouth to say something, when he heard the same metallic walking sound the Blok made. He whipped his head around to see a new creature. This creature was much smaller than a Blok, its head looking almost too big for it's small body. It had a single eye to match its single symbol. The thing scuttled around as two more came from behind it.

Seth spins his trident and says "Huh, Lyoko cockroaches? Alright, let's dance." All at once, the new creatures started firing lasers out of their single eyes. Seth, exerting a great amount of effort and energy, dodged them all. When he landed from evading all the blasts, he was right next to one of the little monsters. With quick thinking, he sticks his trident into its symbol. The thing squirmed on the weapon before it disappeared in a small blast. He hears the sound of another laser being fired and he turned around just in time to deflect it off of one of the blades on his weapon. Seth ran forward and launched his trident in the air, finding the balancing point Gio had told him about before releasing it. The weapon hurled through the air and landed right over the creature. The trident stuck in the ground and the little monster turned around to look at the weapon that had missed it. In a matter of seconds, the creature turned around, but it was too late. Seth was already upon the creature, his foot rearing back to kick it. When his leg swung forward, the force of the kick hitting its mark sent the creature flying over the cliff and into the complete blankness of the cliff. Seth laughed at the fact that he had just drop-kicked one of those monsters before walking back to the center of the battlefield. He picks up his trident, but gets blasted off his feet as a laser strikes him. He lays there, the third creature walking toward him. Seth takes a deep breath and closes his eyes and prepares for de-virtualization when a battle cry could be heard. Seth opened his eyes just enough to see Noah soaring through the air. Around his hands was a pair of enormous, metallic fists. Noah's gaze was intensely focused on the creature, one of his fists rearing back. The world seemed to slow down as he soared through the air, lunging right toward the creature. The monster turned its attention to Noah, its laser charging up to fire at him. But it was too late for the little creature. Noah's metallic fist hit the creature so hard; his fist flattened it and shook the ground beneath Seth. The black jacket that Noah had on fluttered as the air escaped from in-between his fist and the ground. He stood there for a second, hid fist embedded into the earth. After a moment, he lifts his fist and a small crater could be seen where he had hit the rocky ground. Seth looked at Noah in amazement, his mouth opened wide. Noah looked over his shoulder and said in quite possibly the coolest way Seth had ever heard anything said "Miss me?"


	12. The Rivalry

Seth got up from where he was sitting, his eyes and mouth still wide open. Noah smirked and said "Close your mouth. It's weird…" Seth closed his mouth and stuttered "Noah, I now take back everything bad I have ever said to you because THAT was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my entire life." Noah's face lit up as he said "I know right! Look at these things, they're incredible!" Seth looked at Noah's weapon, intrigued. This was the first good look he had gotten at them and he was amazed at the detail. It turns out, that what he was looking at wasn't metal (as he had previously thought). Upon closer examination, it appeared to be solid rock, almost the same rock they were standing on. Seth hit the end of his trident on Noah's fists and the metal dented a little bit when he hit it. "Dang…." Seth said, rubbing the dent in his weapon. Noah closed his eyes and crossed his arms, saying "Yah, I know right. I call them "The Cliffbreakers". Pretty neat, huh?" Seth flicks the switch on his trident, turning it back into its other form before placing it back in its holder on his back. Noah, following Seth's lead, presses a button on the side of his pointer-finger. With a bright flash, the Cliffbreakers turn into black, fingerless gloves. Seth rolls his eyes and shakes his head. " _Show-off_ ," he thinks to himself as he asks his friend "So, how long have you been here?" Noah leans up against a rock and says "About five minutes. I virtualized into Lyoko, I had my little freak-out session with the usual "HOLY CRAP IT WORKED, I'M IN A COMPUTER," thoughts going through your head. Then, once I calmed down a bit, Robert told me that you were in trouble. While I was rushing to your aid, I discovered these bad boys," Noah pressed a button that was in the same place as it was on the fists and in a bright flash, The Cliffbreakers were back. Noah pressed the button again and his weapon disappeared, leaving behind the fingerless gloves he had before. Noah continued, saying "And well… you know the rest"

Seth, hearing the tale of his friend's entry into Lyoko, said "I didn't need your help. I had it covered." Noah laughed and said "Says the guy with 50 life points." Seth glared at him before a familiar cackle came into his head. "Hey Seth, are you okay?" Seth shook himself off and said back "Yah, I'm fine. Just can't take any more hits." Roberts's voice came back, saying "Agreed. Hey, if you two don't mind, I want you guys to check something out about 500 feet north. It's coming up on my scanner, but I can't make out what it is from here." At the same time, Seth and Noah look at each other. Seth takes out his trident, and twirling it around slams the end of the handle into the ground. He flips the switch and the blades spring to life. He cocks an eyebrow and smirks at Noah, challenging him in some silent way. Noah glares back at him and puffs out his chest, putting both of his arms at 90 degree angles along his side. He presses the button on the side of his forefinger and in a flash of light, his Cliffbreakers are back. He pounds them together, sending out a small shockwave from the impact. "C'mon," Seth says as he takes off running, trident in hand.

For about two minutes they follow Robert's directions, hopping over rocks, ducking under trees. They were moving at a fast pace, almost making a race out of it. Seth seemed to be more agile than Noah, so he naturally had an advantage. Once they had reached their destination, Seth came to a skidding halt, his eyes soaring upward. Noah came up right behind him and said "What… is that?" Right in front of the two boys was a gigantic, white tower. Ivy grew up the side, reaching about 12 feet high. The tower seemed to emit a strange, but calming blue light. A crackle breaks through the silence as Robert says "W-what is that thing?" Seth replies back "I have absolutely no idea. I'm guessing it's a tower?" A snort is heard on Roberts end, as he says sarcastically "No really? I had no idea." Seth walks up to the tower and says "Hey, this ivy looks climbable. Maybe I should try to scale it. There might be a door or another way in up there." Noah grabs Seth's arm and holds him back, saying "Hold on. I don't know why, but everything in my instinct is telling me that climbing that thing is a horrible idea." He yanks his arm from Noah's grasp and says "Really? I've gone into a computer, fought digital monsters, was virtually killed, I came BACK to the virtual world, killed a digital monster and your afraid of me climbing a tower? Please Noah; I know what I'm doing." With a smile, Seth turned around. He loads up a jump by getting low to the ground and with one release of his legs; he jumps up into the air and straight at the ivy. But instead of grabbing hold of the vines, Seth goes straight through the tower wall, disappearing from view. Noah's eyes open wide, a look of terror on his face as he says "Uh-oh"


	13. The Intruder

**Hola mi sombreros! I honestly have no idea why I said that; I'm just excited to finally be talking to you guys again. Man, it's been an eventful 6 chapters and as much as I love having Seth as a narrator, I feel like there is a pattern to follow. So, every six chapters, I shall be switching narrators. So that means that we have two narrators left, Gio and Noah. Now I know all of you are yelling at your computer screen "It had better be Noah! Gio only entered into the story and Noah's been there the entire time!" And yes, I hear you. However, I feel that Gio is a better narrator for the events I have planned. Sorry for all you currently raging right now, but that's how I plan to continue. And don't worry, Noah will have his spotlight.**

 **That being said, I do have one giant announcement. THE SEASON FINALE! *Fireworks explode, eagles and fighter jets circle overhead.* That's right, on the 24** **th** **chapter, Season 1 of Code Lyoko: Rise of Xana will be complete. Don't worry, there will be more seasons, I'm just taking a break. I am taking said break because I am currently in the midst of a new Fan fiction. (For all you Pacific Rim fans out there, it's gonna be sweet.) So what does this mean for you? Well, good sir who probably didn't ask that, I'm glad you asked! It means get prepared! Because, I don't know about ya'll, but this finale is going to friggin awesome! Other than that, I got nothing else for ya. That and I'm sure you're all tired of hearing me babble on and on. So without further ado, I present to you "The Intruder". Enjoy guys and talk to you next time.**

"What in the heck? There is nothing here but an old abandoned factory," Gio exclaimed as she stood there, un-impressed by the old factory. She didn't know what the big deal was; there was nothing here for her mom to be afraid of. She rolls her eyes and turns around to leave when she freezes in her tracks. From within the factory, a loud WHOOSH could be heard. She cocks an eyebrow, her heart starting to race. She thinks to herself " _What in the world was that?_ " Reason was telling her to leave, to run away and stay home like Seth had told her. But then again, since when did she ever listen to reason? She puts her hands in the blue jeans she was wearing and heads towards the opening to the factory. The old building had a lonesome feeling to it from the outside, but once she got inside, the place seemed almost creepy to Gio. She shuddered and looks around. She had no idea how to get down to the lower floor until she saw an old rope hanging down from a metal hook. She walked u to the rope and tugged on it a little bit, testing its stability. Satisfied with the rope's durability, she grabs hold of the rope and slides down without effort. Once she was down on the lower level, she stood there, looking around. " _It's even creepier down here_ " She thinks, looking around.

Through the silence, a small noise could be heard. It was quiet, very quiet. Gio almost had to stop breathing in order to hear it. It sounded like a voice, coming from underneath her. She gets down on her hands and knees, pressing her ear up to the ground. A faint voice says "Hey Seth, are you okay?" Gio jumps up, scrambling away from the source of the noise. She looks around, a hurricane of questions ravaging her head. She looks around for a way down to a lower level. She knew she had to figure out what that was and knew that her answers would be below her. She looks around until her eyes fall on an elevator. She smiles and walks up to the elevator, delighted to see that it's still operational.

The ride down was unbearable. She was nervous and scared but at the same time her adrenaline pumped with an amazing ferocity. When the elevator doors opened, she lost her breath completely. In front of her was a massive room, lit up with a blue-green tint. There were giant machines of every shape and size all around. There was the faint sound of a generator humming mixed with a slight tapping sound. Her head jerked around when she heard a voice say "Noah… Noah, no. Seth's not dead. He just went inside the tower… Dude, are you crying?" Gio's heart stopped beating and her breath seized. " _Oh my god, there is someone in here._ " She walks over to the source of the voice. All she could see was a bright screen with a chair in front of a portion of the screen. She tip-toed over to the figure in the chair, being as silent as she could. She knew that one sound would alert the other person in the room with her. She slips up behind the chair and lets out a silent breath and closes her eyes. " _This is it_ " she thought as her eyes shot open. With a quick movement, she whips around. With rapid speed, she wraps her bicep around the figures neck, slightly pulling upward. The figure grabs her arm and tries to pull away, the headset that was on its head falling off. "Hello? Robert, what happened," asked a voice through the earpiece in the headphone. Gio's eyes opened wide. " _What? Robert?_ " She asks herself as she releases her grip from his neck, backing away. The chair whips around, the boy now identified as Robert saying "Yo, what the he-…" Robert cuts himself off before his eyes fall on her. His face grows a look of terror as his body begins to shake. The two of them stare at each other, both of their hearts racing with shock and panic. "Uh-oh" Robert says, putting his forehead into his palm.


	14. The Explaination

Gio rubs her temples and lets out a sigh. She had been talking to Robert for the last twenty minutes and nothing he said made any sort of sense to her. "So let me get this straight. Inside that computer is a virtual world called Lyoko. Not only that, but your brother and my cousin are in said world?" She asks, looking up at him from where she was sitting on the floor in front of his chair. Robert closes his eyes and nods, adjusting his glasses and saying, "Precisely." Gio gets a soft but stern look on her face before she replies "And there is this evil virus called XANA?" Robert nods once again and says "Yes. XANA is very dangerous and unpredictable. According to the tutorials I have been watching, XANA can open up a portal to our world by activating a tower inside of Lyoko. That's why my phone started freaking out. I believe that XANA got notice of us in Lyoko and is trying to "erase" us from existence. Why, I can't tell you. But it's a logical theory." Gio took a long breath before a loud and sudden sound came from underneath where she was sitting. The cool metal beneath her shook as a sound that reminded Gio of a windy day echoed through the room. She turned to look at Robert and saw him looking toward the elevator. With a smile he says "Good, Seth and Noah are back." Robert hops out of his chair and heads toward the elevator. He stops in front of Gio and, looking down at her, extends a hand and says "Well, you coming?" Gio could feel her cheeks start to burn as she shyly took the boys hand. He helped her up and they both walked to the elevator.

When the elevator doors opened, Gio saw an enormous room in front of her. The room was empty except for the four giant cylinders lining the walls. As she scanned the room, she saw one of the cylinders had a boy in it. He was leaning against the wall, his familiar blue eyes and brown hair immediately identifying the boy as her cousin. "God the return trip sucks," the boy said in a weak voice. He opens one of his eyes before a look of terror comes over his face. He scrambles to his feet and stutters "G-Gio! Wh- what are you doing here?!" Robert walks in front of her towards Seth and says "She found her way into the factory while I was trying to calm Noah down. I told her everything because there was no use in lying, she had seen too much." She saw Seth step out from behind Robert and stand in front of her. He puts a hand behind his head and says "Sorry Gio. I would have told you sooner, I just wanted you to stay safe." Gio throws her arms around him and gives him a hug, saying "You're fine Seth. I understand." A groan is heard from one of the tubes and Gio sees the top half of Noah crawl out. Seth pulls away and says "Welcome back, sunshine!" Robert looks at Seth and says "What happened? After you jumped through the tower, I was busy with Gio; I couldn't monitor what you guys were doing." She sees Seth sit down next to Noah as he says "Well, as soon as I got into the tower, I hear THIS guy yelling and what not." Seth says, motioning at Noah with his head "So, I reach out and pull him through so that we are both in the tower. But you should have seen this thing man! It was all dark except for the floor beneath us. It was one of those weird symbols that are on all of the creatures in Lyoko, but the rings lit up when you stepped on them. As we went towards the center, a small, holographic screen appeared in front of us. The word "Code" appeared on it. We were so confused. We didn't know what the code was, so we had no use in the tower. We decided to just leave until you could figure out what the code was. That is until this dope fell off the edge and de-virtualized." Seth said, motioning towards Noah with his hand. "Pretty much after that I got into a rumble with some monsters and lost. And you know the rest" Robert gives a firm nod and says "Understandable. We have to be more cautious though. I fear XANA is aware of our presence in Lyoko. I fear he may be directly attacking us. If we are going to be in Lyoko, we have to make every moment count from here on out." Noah, who was now standing and rubbing the back of his head, says "Agreed. That and we must keep this a secret from everyone else. If XANA gets an idea of whom we know, innocent people might get hurt and that is NOT something I will allow to happen." The four of them exchange looks for a second, before all four of them nod simultaneously.

As they all walked back from the factory, a feeling of calmness was over the group. It was sunset, so the entire city was set ablaze by the suns light. "Well, I think I'm gonna head through the short cut," Seth said as he began to walk through an alleyway. "Hold up," Gio said as she went up to Robert. She looked at him and said "So, I've heard you have had some troubles with this Ricky kid? I could gladly teach you a thing or two about self defense. Only if you really want to." She sees a smile appear on Roberts face as he nods, saying "I think I could do that." She gets a huge smile on her face as she says "Great, we start tomorrow morning at dawn. Meet me at the farmers field and make sure to wear something comfortable." Robert looks at her and, adjusting his glasses, says "Alrighty. I'll see you tomorrow at dawn." Gio gave a small jump in Seth's direction and took off. She turned back around to see Robert silently celebrating to himself before Noah comes up from behind to push him towards home. She giggles silently to herself and begins walking with Seth. And nobody stopped to notice the boy that was watching them from the bushes. "What the…" He says quietly to himself.

 **(HAHA! Didn't think there was another character, did ya?)**


	15. The Date

The next morning, Gio waited patiently in the cornfield next to her cousin's house. The corn had been cut down for the season, but some stalks still stood half-cut. She kicked one in frustration. It was 8:23 and Robert was supposed to meet her here at 8:00. "Why are boys always late. Doesn't he know i have better things to be doing?" She said aloud, not thinking anyone was around. "Oh yah? Like what?" a voice said from behind her. She whipped around to see a pair of blue eyes behind a pair of glasses. Gio squinted, put an hand on her hip and said "well, look who decided to show up." Robert walked forward and said "Yeah, sorry about that. I had to explain to Noah that he couldn't summon his Cliffbreakers in the real world, only in Lyoko." Gio squinted at him before realizing that it sounded like something Noah would actually do. So, much to her dismay, she decided to believe him. That and she also found it somewhat impossible to be mad at the boy. So she just shook her head, shrugged her shoulders and said "Oh well. Some people just can't be changed. But you aren't one of those people. And I'm going to prove that today." She turned around and walked over to a spot on the ground where a pair or meter-long sticks lay side by side. She picked one up and felt the texture of the stick in her hand. It was damp from the dew of the morning, making the bark soft within her grip. She picked up the other one, which felt a bit heavier than the first one, but not much. With both sticks in hand, she turned to Robert and said "here!" She threw one of the sticks at him. He held out his hand and caught the stick, examining it. He looked up at her and said "why did you give me th-" before getting cut off. Gio knew that the one thing she couldn't be with the boy was hesitant. He needed to know how to think quickly and correctly. So before he could catch the stick, she had already started moving. She had reared the stick back and swung it at him, causing him to bring his stick up to block before he could finish his question. "Hey!" Robert said, protesting the sudden attack. Without waiting a second more, she spun around and swung the stick the other way. Caught completely off-guard, Robert was unable to block in time and Gio's stick made contact with his arm. Robert jumped back and said "ow! What the heck?! Ya'know, if you wanted to beat me up, you could have just told me." Gio held her stick in front of her and said "See, I think that's the issue. You talk too much. You don't act." Robert said to her, getting a bit frustrated "well I'm sorry that we can't all be ninjas like you." Gio squints and says "and I'm sorry we can't all get beat up on a daily basis." At that point, Gio saw something change in Robert. His face got stern and his teeth clenched. She gripped tighter to the stick, awaiting a move from him. He glared at her and she glared at him. There was no noise between the two of them. Nothing but the wind made a sound.

All of a sudden, Robert let out a shattering yell as he ran towards Gio. The stick gripped tightly in his hand. She stood firm, keeping her stance. As he reached her, he raised his stick above his head and brought it downward. Gio, thinking quick, stepped to the side. She felt the wind of the stick miss her by inches. She makes eye-contact with Robert and could tell he was working on some sort of stored-up rage. She decided to act and spun around, bringing her stick to make contact with his back. He lurched forward from the blow, but quickly recovered. Surprising Gio, he brought his leg across the ground and swept her off her feet. Grabbing for the closest thing she could, she grabs hold of his shoulders, bringing him down with her. Robert let go of the stick and fell onto his back and so did Gio. The two lay there, breathing heavily. The wetness of the ground made the back of her shirt wet. She sat up but Robert just laid there, motionless. Catching her breath, Gio said "are you alright?" Robert, breaking the silence began to laugh. It started soft but then grew louder. He turned onto his side, laughing as Gio, confused but amused began to giggle under her breath. Robert, laughing between breaths said "I can't believe I only met you yesterday and we've already tried killing each other." Gio began laughing. She had no idea why, but she found this topic amusing. She found this boy amusing. Robert turned back over onto his back and calmed his laughing down a bit. Gio looked down a bit, also calming down with her giggling. Their eyes met. She loved the way his eyes reflected the world around her. How his eyes showed what he saw. And right no, all she could see was herself in his eyes. She gave a shy smile and he got closer. She found herself getting closer. Closer and closer until "HEY YOU TWO. NO MACKIN ON EACH OTHER!" Gio closed her eyes as the familiar voice of her cousin shouted from the upstairs window of his house. Gio yelled out, not even looking back, "how long have you been watching seth?" The familiar voice answers back, saying "long enough. Now if your make out session is through, I suggest you come in and see this." Robert calls out from his spot on the ground and says "what is it Seth?" Gio's cousin answers back, saying "well, I don't want to give away too much, but it looks like our good friend XANA is back in action!"


	16. The Report

As soon as she walked into her cousin's house, her mom and Seth's mom rushed up and started asking if she was okay or if she was hurt. Gio looked at them confused and said "mom, Aunt Tracy. I'm perfectly fine. Why would something be wrong?" Her aunt Tracy looked at her mom and said "oh, she hasn't heard has she." Gio looked around as Robert came up behind her. He looks at Seth's mom and says, " , where is Seth?" Gio's aunt looks towards the stairs leading up to Seth's room and says "He's up there, watching T.V." Robert and Gio look at each other and nod. Robert looks back at the two women standing in front of them and says "Thank you." He then puts his hand on Gio's shoulder and says "Let's go." Gio looks back at him and nods. She turns and walks past her Aunt and mom and towards Seth's room. The stairs creak as she steps up them, her footsteps slightly quieter than Roberts. As the two of them made it to the doorway, Gio looked in and saw her cousin sitting on his bed. He was intently staring at the screen, the glow of the television illuminating his face. Gio brings a closed fist up and lightly taps on the wooden frame of the doorway. At the sound, Seth's head whips towards them. Seth scooted over on his bed and patted the spot next to him and said "Hey, you're here! Okay, check this out." Seth turns up the volume as Gio and Robert enter the room. Gio sits on the bed with Seth and Robert takes a seat leaning up against the foot of the bed, saying "Ok Seth, what is it?" Seth snapped a look at Robert and says "Shhh! Listen." Gio watches the T.V as the news reporter begins to talk.

"...And that is all the news we know at the moment. Now for those who are just now tuning in, there is a crisis in the skies at this hour where a commercial airline full of people has been hijacked. It is not clear as to if this is a terrorist attack or not. We take you to Henry Donner on the scene, Henry?" Gio watches intently as the man on the scene begins to talk. "Thank you Evan. Yes, we are here at Channel Line Airport where exactly two hours ago, flight number 421 took off on its way across the country. Everything was going smoothly until airline traffic control intercepted a message from the pilot saying he had lost control. When asked if it was a person that had caused him to lose control, he said that he did not see any threat from a person, but thinks this is the work of a hacker. He tells air traffic control that once he lost control, a strange red symbol appeared on his navigation screen and the controls began to spark out of control. That is all we know at this moment. Back to you, Evan." The glow from the television disappeared from Gio's face as Seth turned it off. The three of them sit in silence before Robert says, "...so.. do you think…" Seth, picking up on what Robert was saying, says "that's exactly what I'm thinking." Gio looked between the two boys and said "is there something here I am missing?" Robert straightened out his glasses and says "what I'm thinking is that XANA has taken over that plane. Why? I have no idea. But whatever it is, there is only one place we are going to make sure." Gio watched as Robert took out his phone and started sending a text message to Noah. Gio tilted her head and said "what are you texting Noah for?" Robert hit send on his message and said, "I need him to meet us at the factory. If XANA really IS behind all this, then we will need all the help we can get."


	17. The Danger

The crisp, morning air blew against Gio's face as the three of them ran towards the factory. With Robert leading the way, Gio and her cousin ran side-by-side. Gio glanced over at Seth's face. His eyes were focused ahead, stone cold in the direction he was going. He looked serious, more serious than she'd seen him in awhile. Gio says between breaths, "what's wrong with you?" Seth looked towards her and then back in the direction he was going. "it's just… if Robert is right and we can't stop XANA in time… a lot of innocent people will die." he says, staying focused. Gio nodded and kept on running. Once the factory came into view, Gio saw an older boy standing in front of the entrance. "there's Noah!" Robert exclaimed from his position in the front. As the three of them reached the boy, they came to a stop. "okay, so please tell me that this call to Lyoko has nothing to do with this whole airplane mess." Noah says in a terrified but hopeful voice. Robert shook his head and says "I wish I could, but that's exactly what I think." Gio looked at Noah and said "but that's why you and Seth are going in. Just to see if it actually **is** XANA." She saw Noah nod as she heard Seth's voice say "well then? What are we waiting for? Let's go."

Seth was the first one to run into the factory and Noah followed close after. Both of them jumped off the ledge and grabbed hold of the rope, sliding down to the ground level. Robert went after them, sliding down the old rope to meet up with Seth and Noah. Gio walked up to the ledge and looked over. The bottom floor didn't look too far down, but it would still be enough to be a nasty fall. She reached out towards the rope and grabbed hold, gripping tightly onto the rough texture. Giving one last look down, she jumped off and slid down, the friction of the rope slightly burning her hands. She closed her eyes and jumped off, using the rope to swing down. As she let the rope grind through her hands, she gritted her teeth as the temperature against her skin increased. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she rubbed her hands together, getting rid of the heat. Once she got done, she looked around and saw the three others standing by the elevator doors. As she approached them, she heard Robert say "Alright. Seth and Noah. Go straight to the scanner room. Gio and I are going to the control room. Get in as soon as you can. If my suspicions on XANA are correct, then we are going to need all the time we can get." Gio looked at her cousin and saw him give robert a stern nod. The elevator dings as the doors open and all four of the teenagers stepped into the elevator. As the doors closed, there was a silence. Everyone was determined. Everyone was focused. Everyone was scared. Scared for the fate of humanity, but they didn't show it. And as the elevator doors opened, nobody made a sound. Robert stepped out in a defiant and confident manner and she found herself following him. As Robert kept on walking, Gio turned around to her cousin. She looked at him and quietly said "j-just be careful, okay?" Just as the elevator doors began to close, Seth gave her a wink, reassuring her as much as one could be reassured. She then heard a metallic whirring sound from behind her that made her head jerk around. Once her eyes focused on the control room, she saw Robert sitting in his chair. He slid over to the supercomputer and began typing. He had begun typing into his computer rapidly, the digits and codes reflecting off his glasses. She walked over to him and watched. After a few minutes, he stopped typing. His hands began to shake nervously as he looked at his computer screen in utter terror. Gio looked at the screen in front of her. On it was a map of all airplanes in the skies at the moment. She watched as each of the planes moved in their different directions, their paths being marked by white dashed lines. However, as she looked across the screen, there was one thing that caught her eye. It was a white plane like all the others, but it's dashed-line was red instead of white. As she saw it, it had made its liftoff and about two hours into it's trip, it had suddenly and sharply changed its direction. And then she gasped. Her breath was literally taken away when she realized that the plane was headed right towards their location. She looked at Robert, who was still frozen in fear and says "Robert? What does this mean?" His voice was shaky as he slowly turned his head towards her and said "it means… it means i was right... XANA is trying to crush us with an airplane filled with fifty people." Gio looked in horror at the computer screen as it kept inching closer and closer.


	18. The Entrance

Gio could feel the cold hand of terror grip her spine as she stared breathlessly at the screen. Her hands tightened around the arm or Roberts chair as the plane blipped closer. Robert, who had been silent focused, suddenly blinked to life. He minimized the screen with the plane and pushed it to the left half of the screen. He brought up a window he had labeled "scanner room". On it, Gio could see virtual models of both Seth and Noah, along with a camera that was focused on the room downstairs. She watches as the elevator doors open and the two boys stepped out. Seth walks out first and to a tube that was right in the Camera's view. Noah comes out and steps into a tube on the far end of the room. She watches as Robert pressed a button and the tube doors for both boys closed. She gulped with nervousness as she heard Robert say "scanning Seth and Noah." On the screen, Gio watched as the virtual models or Seth and Noah were filled up with a green color. As soon as both models were filled, Robert pressed a button and said into his microphone, "Virtualization!" There is a loud whooshing sound and the floor beneath her began to rumble. For a few seconds, the floor kept it's self-generated shock waves until finally calming down. It took a few seconds before Robert started typing something into the computer. Then he says with an exhale, "they're in."

He types in a few codes and then he unplugs his headset. "Seth, Noah. Can you hear me?" The room went silent. Gio listened intently and so did Robert. And all of a sudden, a crackle of static came through and her cousin's voice said "Yah, we hear you." Robert triumphantly clenched his fist as he said "Awesome! Ok, where are you two?" Noah's 'voice filled the room as he said "it looks like a forest area. I can barely see through all these trees." Robert went back to typing on his computer. A map of what Gio guessed was Lyoko appeared. He pushed another button and two red dots appeared in a section of Lyoko with a number 4 on it. "yah, you guys are in the forest sector of Lyoko." Robert said, adjusting his glasses. Seth's voice comes through the intercom and says "yah! I know! Noah, check me out!" Another voice comes in and says "Seth, get down from there, you're going to hurt yourself." A loud cracking sound followed by a thud sounded around the room. Noah's voice came through again and said "told you." Robert and Gio laughed silently to each other. And she would have kept laughing if it wasn't for the blasting alarm that began to sound. Robert jumped as he fumbled with his keyboard, typing something in. The map of Lyoko came back up. Gio looked at the map and saw the two dots that symbolizes Seth and Noah. But she also saw a whole bunch of other red dots. She counted them and found there was a total of twelve. She turns to Robert, who was furiously typing into his computer and asks "Robert? What are those things?" Robert in a frantic panic says "they are the minions of XANA. He knows we are in Lyoko and he is trying to kick us out." As she looks at the screen, she says "but, they aren't going to be able to take those things on alone." Robert crosses his arms and says "I agree. They are good fighters, but without an extra person, they don't stand a chance." Gio began to think before getting an idea. "Hey! Why don't YOU go in and lend them a hand." Robert adjusted his glasses and said "I would, but I have to stay here and work the computer." Gio lowered her head, thinking. She knew Robert was right, but who would go in and help? And then it started. A burning of passion that started at her feet and went up her spine like an internal fire. She looked at Robert and quietly said "... I'll go."

Robert looked down at her and said "no. Absolutely not. Out of the question." Gio pounded her fist on the arm of his chair and said "well you know what? It wasn't a question! It was an option that I'm not giving you a choice in. Listen Robert, my cousin is in there. My own family. And if there is any way I can prevent him from getting hurt, that's exactly what I plan to do. Now, I'm going to go to the scanner room and you are going to scan me in." Gio let the impact of her words sink in as Robert just sat and stared. He opened his mouth to protest, but closed it and just nodded. "good. Give me about five minutes and scan me in." And with those words, she walked off. She strode defiantly to the elevators and as soon as the doors opened, she stepped in. She turned around and the elevator doors closed. And as she stood there alone in the elevator, the only thing she could say is "what am I about to do?"


	19. The Tree

**Hello my dedicated and undedicated readers! Seedative here with my final announcement for season one! It has been a good run with Gio as narrator and knowing the person Gio is modeled after in my real life, that is no surprise. And yes, that was a shoutout. But now, following the pattern, we must switch narrators. Now we have had Robert, Seth and Gio as the narrators, and that only leaves one left. So Noah shall be running the show. And knowing the real person he is modeled after, this could get…. Interesting. So anyway, I had better stop my jabbering. So for the final time until the end, I present to you chapter 19: The Tree.**

 **(Oh yah, p.s. this chapter will take place as soon as Noah and Seth virtualized into Lyoko. That's all for now. Bye!)**

Everything went dark for Noah. He had learned that if he closes his eyes and calms his mind, scanning in becomes easier. And so he did. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind and in a rush of wind, his world went spiraling into the air. He kept himself calm until the rushing wind sound disappeared. He opened his eyes and was suspended in the air. He looked down just in time to see his foot virtualizing in. At that moment, he began to fall. He caught himself, landing firmly on the ground. He placed a hand on the ground to help with his balance. He gripped and felt the soil of the place he was in. It was moist and damp, almost like a sponge that was covered in short grass. He craned his head to look up into the sky. Or at least, what sky he could see. As he gazed upward, the sky was covered by a thick canopy of trees. As he looked to his side, he saw huge tree trunks, at least 3 or 4 feet wide. "wow" he says as he hears a pair of footsteps next to him. He sees Seth walk up to him, looking around. "well… this is a new one." Seth says, touching the tree trunk. Noah looks up at the tree and says "yah. It is." Noah touches the tree with Seth before seeing the boy next to him jump up onto the trunk, holding on. "what are you doing?" Noah asks the climbing boy. "isn't it obvious? I'm climbing a tree." Seth says as he begins to shimmy up the tree. Noah let out a scoff just as a voice came into his ear. "Seth, Noah. Can you hear me?" Roberts voice would say. Noah couldn't quite figure it out, but Robert's voice sounded muffled. Almost as if he wasn't speaking directly into his headset. "yah, we hear you." Seth says, pulling himself onto a branch. Noah watched as the branch bent under Seth's weight. The voice of his brother filled his ear again and said "Awesome! Ok, where are you two?" Noah looked around and said "It looks like a forest area. I can't see through all these trees." Roberts voice fills Noah's ear again and says "yah. You guys are in the forest sector of Lyoko." Noah looks around before looking back up at Seth, who had climbed up to a higher branch. Seth begins to bounce on the branch saying "Yah! I know! Hey Noah, check me out!" Noah crosses his arms and looks up at the boy, saying "Seth, get down from there. You're going to hurt yourself." And just as he says that, the branch beneath Seth snaps. The boy in the tree lets out a gasp as he begins tumbling towards the ground. Noah squints his eyes and takes one step to the left, holding his arms out. As Seth's yell gets louder, Noah embraces himself. A few seconds later, the boy lands in Noah's arms. Noah looks down and says "told you." Seth hops out of Noah's arms and brushes himself off. Noah smiles at Seth and Seth pushes Noah's face away saying "yah, yah. You told me so. Get off of my back will ya?" He began to laugh at the boy, wondering how he ended up getting stuck with a guy like this. But his laughter was cut short by a metallic sound. The sound of hundreds of metallic feet crawling towards them. Noah hops up onto a log and gets a view of a horrendous sight. A dozen of the little monsters crawling towards them. He looks down to say something to Seth, but the boy already had his weapon out. Noah smirked as he pounded his two fists together. At the second hit, a bright glow filled the air next to Noah's hands. In a flash, his weapon had appeared. The feel of the stone fists squeezing his hand was a peaceful reminder as to how confident he was. He looked back at Seth and says "Alright! Let's crush some metal."


	20. The Order

Noah was ready. He was more than ready. Even though it had only been a day or so, it had felt like he had been waiting for this fight his entire life. He put pressure on the balls of his feet and in a flash, he was rushing towards the crawling creatures. Not only was he stronger in Lyoko, but he found himself faster and more agile. He ran at a breakneck speed towards the machines just as they began firing. Their aim was shotty, only a few shots hitting remotely close to him. One shot headed right toward him, but he blocked it with his fist. His eyes searched, scanned for his first victim. He found it. A lone Kanklarat, trying to flank the two of them. He punched the ground. The force of his fist made a slab of dirt come shooting out of the ground. He used his other fist to punch the solid mass of soil towards the creature. The projectile hit the small creature and sent it flying off the edge. One down, eleven to go. He turned around just in time to see Seth jump out of the way of two lasers. These laser beams intersected, bounced off each other and went right back to their shooter, destroying both on impact. Nine left. Noah looked to his left, and then to his right. Seth had his trident drawn, backing up towards him. Five of the little monsters were in front of the two boys and four of them were behind the duo. The boys went back-to-back. "Ready for this?" Noah yelled out, confidently. Seth smiles and turns over his shoulder, saying "After you!"

Noah smirks and opens his arms wide. Bringing his gauntlets together in a thundering clap, a shockwave rippled through the area, sending the creatures soaring backwards in the air. Seth jumped up into the air and began attacking. Stabbing and slashing as he jumped, he tore through the group of five creatures. When the Kanklarats fell to the ground, only two members of the group Seth attacked still stood. Noah was upon the other four creatures in a matter of seconds as well. Grabbing two of the little monsters, one in each of his powerful hands, he slammed them together and crushed them between his grip. Four left. He ran over to another monster in the vicinity and punched it straight on, sending it crashing into the tree Seth had tried to climb. There was one more left in Noah's group. He ran over to the creature, but it was already on it's feet. It fired two shots at Noah. He jumped up and over the two shots, dodging them efficiently. Rolling when he landed, he brought a powerful fist down on the creature, making another crater and effectively smashing the tiny monster. Standing up, he turned to look at Seth. The boy was circling around the two monsters, challenging them silently, his trident bared and shining in the sun. Noah smirked and rushed at the two monsters that still remained, but then something happened that made him come to a skidding halt.

A piercing, high-pitched sound echoed through the area around the two boys. As Seth and Noah covered their ears, the two Kanklarats still standing began to vibrate violently. Sputtering and bouncing around, they almost looked like little popcorn kernels getting ready to pop. Noah watched, utterly confused and baffled. Suddenly, the loud, shrieking sound stopped. As soon as it did, the little monsters stopped bouncing around and got to their feet. They looked at Seth and Noah for a second before turning 180 degrees and walking back the way they came. Noah growled and began to rush after them. However, an arm on his chest stopped him. Seth, looking at the creatures, said "No… I think they were just given an order by X.A.N.A. It would be beneficial to follow them." A familiar voice crackled in Noah's ear, saying "Actually, Seth is very correct. That loud noise you guys just heard was a signal emitted from a tower not too far from your position. If i had to take a guess, X.A.N.A is calling his minions to guard the tower he's activated. I would suggest following them. They might lead us right to the activated tower." Noah sighed and de-activated his Cliffbreakers. "Well, stealth isn't really my forte, but i guess we could tail those little monsters." Seth retracted his trident and strapped it on his back. Shaking his head, he turned to Noah and said "Well then. Guess it's a good thing you have me!" Noah punched Seth across the arm. "Shut up and lead the way." And with that, the two boys began trailing the two remaining monsters, leaving a mess of mechanical parts behind them.


End file.
